Tk 270cr laundered money recoveredFor the first time in the country's history, the government has retrieved Tk 270 crore of illegal money from seven businessmen and is expecting to recover around Tk 3,000 crore more soon.

AL men divided over reform issuesAwami League (AL) will start working towards reforms aiming to ensure intra-party democracy and transparency immediately after withdrawal of the ban on indoor politics.

Hazari sued in sports complex collapse caseFormer Awami League leader Joynal Hazari and his three associates were sued on Thursday in connection with the 1999 Feni Sports Complex building collapse that left eight labourers killed.

Tragic death of two brothersTwo brothers died as a truck hit a pickup carrying the dead body of their father near Ashukati Proshika office on Barisal-Dhaka highway yesterday afternoon.

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Mother saves son but dies from fire injuryKhorsheda Begum was able to save her seven-month-old son during a fire at her home in Jatrabari in the capital Thursday night but she herself succumbed to her injuries yesterday morning.

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Two murdered in cityA housewife and a labourer were murdered in the city's Kamrangirchar area late Thursday night. The deceased were identified as Nurunnahar Rupa, 19, and Delwar Hossain, 26.

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CorrectionIn the report headlined "Govt unwilling to free EC sectt from PMO" published in The Daily Star yesterday, Debapriya Bhattacharya's speech delivered during a dialogue at the Election Commission (EC) was

Robber killed in encounter with RabA robber was killed in an encounter with Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) at Shamlapur village under Baharchara Union of Teknaf upazila early yesterday.

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Democrats blast Bush over Iraq policyDemocratic presidential hopefuls flashed their anti-war credentials Thursday night, heaping criticism on President Bush's Iraq policy in the first debate of the 2008 campaign.

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Lanka shuts airport fearing Tiger attackSri Lanka was on high alert yesterday over the threat of another Tamil Tiger air attack, the morning after a suspicious aircraft forced the closure of the island's only international airport.

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Myanmar to step up fight against UlfaMyanmar has promised to step up military action against all Indian separatist rebels operating from its territory, an Indian official said yesterday following security talks between the neighbours.

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Top al-Qaeda operative taken into US custodyA top al-Qaeda commander who led operations in Afghanistan and plotted the assassination of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has been taken into US custody, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday.

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Chechen rebels down helicopter: 18 killedUp to 18 servicemen died yesterday when a Russian military helicopter was shot down in renewed violence in Chechnya, Russian news agencies quoted military officials as saying.

Emirates profit up 25pc to $844mDubai's Emirates airline posted Thursday a 25 percent surge in its annual profits to 844 million dollars in the financial year 2006-07 despite high fuel costs. The carrier's revenues totaled 8.

Eastland Camellia defers AGMThe Board of Directors of Eastland Camellia Ltd at a meeting on Sunday decided to hold the next annual general meeting (AGM) of the company on July 18, 2007 instead of May 8 as decided and intimated through

US appears unmoved by weak dollarThe dollar's latest slide has stimulated little reaction from US authorities, with analysts saying a weak greenback may benefit Washington at a time of preoccupation with Asia, especially China.

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Wolfowitz complains of shabby treatmentWorld Bank president Paul Wolfowitz has accused the development lender's board of treating him "shabbily and unfairly" as he battles to retain his job, according to a report Thursday.

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Citigroup succeeds in Nikko bidCitigroup said Friday that it had triumphed in its massive takeover offer for Nikko Cordial, securing a majority stake in the scandal-tainted Japanese securities firm for 7.7 billion dollars.

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Yahoo plans big for IndiaIndia is set to become Yahoo's hub for designing and handling of products and services in Asia and Latin America in line with its emphasis on the emerging markets.

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Weekly Currency RoundupApril 22-April 26, 2007Local FX MarketThe demand for US dollar was high throughout the week. Higher demand caused the USD to rise against the Bangladeshi taka this week.

Cricket:SL playing for the worldSri Lanka have the chance to prove that international cricket is not simply a case of Australia and the rest when they face the double-defending champions in Saturday's World Cup final here at Kensington

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Cricket:Slingers take stageThey're the youngest slin-gers in town, but Shaun Tait and La-sith Malinga know that Saturday's World Cup final shootout can produce only one winner.

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Cricket:Mahela's timeWhen Mahela Jayawardene played his last World Cup match in 2003, he ne-ver thought that four years later he would be aiming to become the first captain to stop the Australian juggernaut.

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Cricket:Murali hopes for war woundsMuttiah Mu-ralidaran ho-pes that a Sri Lanka victory in Saturday's World Cup final against champions Australia can help heal the war wounds of his strife-torn country.

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Cricket:Eleven reasons...Australia are the favourites to win another World Cup title on Saturday.

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Cricket:Prayers in earnestSri Lanka is agog with World Cup fever with even Buddhist monks, Hindu and Catholic priests and Muslim clerics rallying to seek spiritual support for the home team.

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Football:Ctg Abahani's second winRahmatganj paid for numerous misses as Chittagong Abahani came from a goal down to beat the old Dhaka outfit 2-1 in an entertaining B. League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

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Cricket:The finals so farThe inaugural 1975 World Cup in England was virtually unrecognisable by modern standards, for it was not all about glamour and slam-bang batting now associated with one-day cricket.

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Cricket:WC not for fansThey may be arch rivals on the cricket field but as fans they agreed on one thing: this World Cup was expensive and lacked the Caribbean flavour at the match venues.

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Cricket:'We are tough to beat'Aussie batsman Michael Clarke says Sri Lanka will have to produce an amazing performance if they are to clinch a shock World Cup final win on Saturday.

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Cricket:The lucky PunterIf there is one skipper who is smiling all the way in the World Cup, it is Australian Ricky Ponting whose side have been crushing all opposition with ruthless efficiency.

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Cricket:McGrath set for farewellHe was branded too old and too hittable. But like the horse who won the Derby despite being bred for a shorter distance, if someone told Glenn McGrath this was a World Cup too far, he didn't hear them.

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Football:Osasuna stun SevillaSpanish league strugglers Osasuna turned on the style to claim a precious 1-0 home win over reigning UEFA Cup champions Sevilla in the first leg of their semifinal here Thursday.

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Cricket:Viv declares his WC XIVivian Richards praised the contribution to world cricket of Muttiah Muralidaran after naming the off-spinner in his team of the World Cup.

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Football:Thrilling win for JamalpurA brace each by Milon and Shamsul helped Jamalpur win a seven-goal thriller against Manikganj at Sherpur yesterday in the first stage of the Western Union National Youth Football Championship.

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Football:Russel's regretsSheikh Russel Krira Chakra regretted the incidents following their 1-0 loss to Arambagh in last week's B. League match.

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Cricket:Bucknor gets five on fiveWest Indies umpire Steve Bucknor will officiate in an unprecedented fifth World Cup final on Saturday after being named by the ICC to oversee the 2007 title clash between Australia and Sri Lanka.

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Cricket:'Bounce me, if you can'Sri Lanka's marauding opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya has thrown down the gauntlet at the Australians to bounce him if they can in Saturday's final of the cricket World Cup.

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Football:New hair day for BecksDavid Beckham is sporting a new platinum blonde hairstyle as he prepares to bring down the curtain on his Real Madrid career before joining American club Los Angeles Galaxy in the summer.

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Football:High noon for giantsLike heavyweights hauling themselves off their stools for the 12th round, Manchester United and Chelsea must find the energy to resume slugging on Saturday as their gruelling title bout edges nearer a

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Football:All roads lead to RomeWith Inter Milan having clinched the Italian league title last Sunday, the Rome derby takes centre stage in Serie A this weekend as second-placed Roma take on fierce rivals Lazio.

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Football:Praise premature: FergieSir Alex Fergu-son claims praise for his Manchester United side is premature ahead of the final weeks of the campaign.

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Football:Schalke vow titleSchalke 04's Bra-zilian midfielder Lincoln insisted on Thursday his side will do "whatever it takes" in their quest to lift their first Bundes-liga title.

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Football:Klinsmann still keen on coachingGermany boss Juergen Klinsmann revealed on Thursday he is set to return to coaching and will be spending the summer considering job offers -- from both clubs and countries.

Football:Zlatan undergoes surgeryInter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has undergone surgery in the Netherlands to strengthen his abdominal wall, the recently crowned Serie A champions said on Friday.

International Dance Day tomorrowThe International Dance Day will be celebrated tomorrow across the country. Nrityadhara, a forum of professional dancers, has taken up a special programme on the occasion, says a press release.

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Dissemination seminar on 'Serve the Essentials' heldOxfam GB, Development Wheel (DEW) and the Department of Sociology, Rajshahi University jointly organised a dissemination seminar on the report 'Serve the Essentials' at the Darbar Hall in Rajshahi onThursday,

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Prof Anwar, Prof Alam new AUST VC, treasurerProf M Anwar Hossain and Prof Kazi Shariful Alam have been appointed as vice-chancellor and treasurer of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), sponsored by Dhaka Ahsania Mission, says

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Appeal for helpParents of Mariam Aktar, a class nine student of Khilgaon Ali Ahmed High School, have sought financial assistance for treatment of their daughter, who has been suffering from spinal cord disorder, says

Tk 1cr timber damaging in MoulvibazarTimbers worth about taka one crore are being damaged at five forest offices in Moulvibazar due to lengthy procedure of tender invitation to sell timbers.

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Two Indians convicted in arms caseTwo Indian nationals have been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for different terms by a court here on charges of intrusion into the Bangladesh territory with firearms and sharp weapons in 2000.

Schoolboy killed in ChandpurA minor boy of class VI was allegedly strangled to death at Chor Mothura village under Faridganj upazila in Chandpur on Thursday night. The deceased was identified as Mamun, son of Abdul Mannan.

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'Corrupt' REB official heldMembers of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested an official of Rural Electrification Board (REB) from his Dinajpur office while he was taking bribe form another officials of his office on Wednesday.

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Capt Shujat Ali laid to restCapt (retd) Muhammad Shujat Ali, a valiant freedom fighter and former lawmaker, was laid to rest with full state honour at Debidwar in Comilla yesterday.

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Arms seizedThe joint forces in a sudden drive seized huge quantities of arms and ammunitions from village Palipara under Potnitola upazila in Naogaon on Wednesday, police sources said.

Why is SAARC progressing so slowly?We concluded the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi with the vision of a South Asian community that will ensure free flow of goods, services, peoples, technologies, knowledge, capital, culture and ideas in

Space to fill upIs photography an art?" -- the debate continues as photography has struggled through one and half centuries to place itself as a fine art. To many, photography is a merely a reproductive medium.

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'Shui': Romance and regretsShui, a film on social evils by Shams Shuman, had its premiere on April 26 at the Alliance Francaise, Dhaka. The film brings to light the fears and travails of a copywriter working for an ad agency.

Abe meets Bush in 1st White House tripUS President George W Bush welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the first time at the White House Thursday, with baseball and golf coming up in their conversation at dinner.

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Afghan district governor killed in Taliban attacksTaliban violence erupted across Afghanistan yesterday with rebels killing a district governor and police chief and dozens of militants attacking Nato troops The administration and police chiefs ofGiro

Congress clears Iraq bill, Bush vows vetoIn a bold wartime challenge to President Bush, the Democratic-controlled Congress cleared legislation Thursday to begin withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by Oct 1 with a goal of a complete pullout six

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'Kosovo is ready for independence'Kosovo is ready for independence, its ethnic Albanian leaders told UN envoys visiting the disputed Serbian province on Friday to test its readiness to become the world's newest state.

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Climate change heats up Arctic geopoliticsGlobal warming has the United States and Canada scrambling to overhaul their strategies for controlling North America's vast Arctic, as sea passage grows easier and natural gas resources beckon.

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No 'serious debate' ahead of Iraq invasionFormer CIA director George Tenet says in a new book that there was no serious debate within the US administration ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to US media reports Friday.

19,000 still on death row: AmnestyJudicial executions dropped sharply in 2006, but at least 19,000 people remained on death row at the end of the year, Amnesty International said in its annual report published yesterday.

Rockets kill four in Pak tribal areaFour people were killed and three wounded early yesterday when rockets fired by suspected militants hit a house in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

Paying for the sins of WestThis God-forsaken region comprising India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives has found time to discuss everything under the sun, but never the environment, ecology or climate.

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Voter ID and other thoughtsThere is no doubt that the state of emergency has saved the country from chaos and destruction. The caretaker government of Dr.

ICT to surmount disabilityIn our country, there are thousands of predicaments for a disable person. There is no such constitutional opportunity for the Person with Disability (PWD) so that they will not fall victim to discrimination.

Nokia unveils trio of feature rich phonesNokia unveiled three new high end models for the Bangladesh market that show how the boundaries are blurring between the internet world, mobility and the consumer electronics industry, says a press release.